female characters

Book Review – The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper

books, reviews

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

I’m pretty sure that I bought a copy of this on my first holiday after Covid. I picked it up on a whim when I was in Waterstones. Mostly so we could take advantage of their special offer. It wasn’t something that I knew a lot about before I walked into the shop. It was just one that they happened to be recommended. I don’t even think I properly looked at the cover before I bought it. I just went in blind. It’s definitely the kind of book that appeals to me though, so no doubt I would have picked it up anyway. As ever, it sat on my shelves for ages without being read. Somewhere along the way, I also bought an audiobook copy of it. No doubt it was part of an Audible daily deal or something. One of the many reasons that I’m glad I don’t have a subscription anymore. As I’m trying to reduce the number of unread books on my Audible account, I decided to listen to it last week. As the book is about a Roman brothel, it probably wasn’t the most appropriate choice for work but never mind.

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Bookish Post – Daisy Jones & the Six

films, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

When I first heard about Daisy Jones & the Six, it was after Resse Witherspoon had included it in her book club. Of course, this also put me off a bit because I wasn’t sure it would be the right book for me. I had some issues with it but, ultimately, I think it was a really fun read. A lot of that had to do with the format and how original it was. So, I was interested when it was announced that it would be adapted into a show for Prime. It certainly had a lot of potential to be a really good series. However, I’ve also just read and not enjoyed Carrie Soto Is Back, which made me a little nervous to watch it. Could the show ever live up to my expectations? I took the plunge and watched it this weekend. There are still a couple of episodes to go but I wanted to get some thoughts out.

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Book Review – A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

books, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

2023 is turning out to be the year of Greek myths and their different retellings. I hadn’t meant for this to happen but I’ve just found myself in a bit of a cycle that I’m not intent on breaking. Thankfully there are so many recent books that I can read. Publishers are relishing the resurgence of mythology and it feels like every week we get a feminist rewriting of one of the most famous myths. Natalie Haynes is one of the most celebrated, so I felt that it was only fair that I give this book a chance. I guess it also helped that I’ve already refamiliarised myself with the events of the Trojan War thanks to Stephen Fry. Plus, it just happened to be available on my library app. Why not listen to it as I was working? Hearing the plight of all those women might make me feel better about my dull job.

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Book Review – Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

books, reviews

Rating: 2 out of 5.

As if I wasn’t already feeling fairly old but I’ve just discovered that this book was the winner of the Goodreads Best Historical Fiction. It’s set in the early 90s.In my head, that only happened a few years ago. How can that be considered historical? The 90s is now officially vintage. Something to be viewed with a sense of nostalgia. I hope the 90s don’t replace the 80s as the top literary setting. I’m not sure I’m ready to deal with YA characters getting super excited about old Nickelodeon shows and floppy-haired boybands. Celebrating the discovery of a really cool retro album called Backstreet’s Back. I’m imagining Ready Player One but with much less cool references. I didn’t know that Carrie Soto is Back was set in the 90s. I’m not saying it would have stopped me reading it but it would at least have prepared me. Prepared me for hearing the words “my new favourite show: ER” spoken with utter sincerity. The 90s was a weird time.

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Book Review – The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

books, reviews

Rating: 1.5 out of 5.

Last week, a friend of mine asked for reading recommendations. I enjoy talking about books with people but I do find it stressful recommending them. Especially when the person doesn’t give me an idea of what they like to read. Especially as I like to read a variety of books. I don’t like to put myself in a box in terms of genre and tropes. Although, there are certain books that I do tend to avoid. I’ve never been a lover of romance books which makes me avoid them most of the time. I’m trying to embrace more genre fiction this year and that includes romance. There might be something out there that works for me. So, I’m open to suggestions. It’s the reason why I ended up listening to TikTok and buying this book. Normally, I would have just forgotten it existed and moved on.

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Book Review – Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

books, reviews

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

This recent trend of feminist rewritings of myths and legends isn’t going away any time soon. It feels like every single book being published at the moment is based on some poor figure in Greek mythology. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for it but do we need quite so many at the same time? People regularly moan about the lack of originality i the film industry but what of publishing? It feels as though the only books getting a green light right now are either mythology retellings or cosy crime. Flooding the market with these types of books just means that quality declines. Yes, The Song of Achilles was great but not everything can be the same. Ariadne is one of those books that I’ve heard so many good things about. Although, it was also nominated for a GoodReads award in 2021 which is often a worrying sign. I was interested to see what it would be like but also kind of scared to start it. This week, I finally took the plunge.

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Book Review – Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

books, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I read Celeste Ng’s debut novel Everything I Never Told You and bloody loved it. It was one of my top books of 2016 and I was really excited to read her follow-up novel. Obviously, it’s taken me ages to actually get around to reading it. I don’t know why I didn’t get to it. I know people who have loved it and I’m pretty sure I’ve only read positive things. I was also really keen to see the TV adaptation but didn’t want to watch it until I’d read the book. When it became apparent that picking up the book was going to be tricky, I decided to get the audiobook. Of course, I didn’t listen to that for ages either. I was looking for something I could listen to at work and it seemed like a good length. Time to see what I’ve been missing out on.

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Book Review – The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

books, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I picked this up on a whim when I was browsing the January sales. I hadn’t heard of it before and was probably only interested in the cover. Thankfully, it also sounded like exactly the kind of book that I enjoy reading. Although, I’ve never been a massive fan of short story collections. I always find that they’re too, for lack of a better term, short. I’m a greedy reader and want the chance to get to know a character first. Short stories give us too brief a glimpse into their worlds and they end just as I’m getting excited. Still, I was willing to give this a chance and I figured it would be a good read during a pretty busy time. It was good to be able to dip into a short story of two a night without worrying about keeping track of a longer narrative thread.

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Book Review – Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi

books, reviews

Rating: 5 out of 5.

I’m a pretty awkward person when it comes down to it. Not great at the whole social interaction thing. I feel as though I have the ability to stop a conversation dead by saying the wrong thing every time. I’m also the kind of person that would rather go along with a lie I told in order to save face. So, I kind of empathise with the main character of my final read of 2022.

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Sunday Rundown: That’s What She Read

books, films, rundown

Sunday Rundown

What have you been reading this week?

Happy New Year everyone. Hopefully, you all had a lovely end to 2022 and are ready for 2023. I’ll be posting my end of year reading review tomorrow, so for now we’ll just do my usual weekly wrap-up. I’ve had a fairly successful week and have finished a few books before the end of the year. December still wasn’t my greatest month ever but it would have been worse.

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